The Majority Leader in Parliament and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Honorable Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has urged Parliament to set up a committee to further investigate GHS 17 billion irregularities involving the management of nineteen state institutions for the period ended 31st December 2021 as revealed by the Public Account Committee’s report.

According to the Suame Member of Parliament even though the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament is mandated to investigate the reports of the Auditor-General and present its findings to the House, the Constitution also mandates the House to constitute a committee to further work with the Attorney General’s Department to make sure that all the Committee’s recommendations are carried out and monies retrieved to the state.

The Majority Leader in his contribution to the adoption of the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Reports of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana for Public Boards, Corporations, and Other Statutory Institutions for the year 2021 further emphasized that Parliament must establish such a committee to commence its mandate before the House break for the festive holiday.

Again, the Majority Leader backed his argument by citing Article 187(6) of the 1992 Constitution which requires Parliament to debate the report of the Auditor-General and appoint where necessary, in the public interest, a Committee to deal with any matter arising from it.

He thus noted that in line with the provisions of the 1992 Constitution and the interest of the State, Parliament must therefore constitute a committee to further look into the report submitted by the Public Account Committee concerning nineteen state institutions recording financial irregularities amounting to GHS 17 billion.

Key Highlight From PAC’s Report On Irregularities Among Nineteen State Institutions

Meanwhile, the report of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament revealed that the total irregularities among state institutions increased from GHS 12,856,172,626 in the year 2020 to GHS 17,483,483,539.25 in 2021, representing an increase of 36.0% from the 2020 irregularities uncovered.

The report classified the irregularities under eight (8) different headings namely, Outstanding Debtors/Loans Receivable (58.98%), Dues from Customers for power sales (COVID -M19 & Others) (34.56%), Cash (2.89%), Payroll (0.05%), Procurement (1.75%), Tax (0.13) and Contract irregularities (1.62%).

The 19 state institutions and agencies that were cited for causing these irregularities were the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General, Ministry of Communication and Digitization, Ministry of Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.

The rest were the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Works and Housing, and Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.

Commenting on the status of the 2021 irregularities, the Committee’s report indicated that some institutions had implemented the recommendations of the Auditor-General concerning the infractions identified in their operations, however, a significant proportion of the irregularities remain unresolved.

The Committee’s report also added that, out of the total value of GHc 17,482,944,569.85 of the irregularities recorded in the report, GHc 3,409,072,840.10 representing 19.5% had been resolved leaving an amount of GHc 14, 073,871,729.75 representing 80.5% unresolved.

The report of the Committee was moved and presented by the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. James Klutse-Avedzi, and seconded by Hon. Isaac Yaw Opoku, a member of the Committee.